Congo Info for Visitors

The “Democratic republic of Congo “often shorten as D R Congo is the largest and most populous country in Central Africa.

The DRC formally called Zaire is truly one of largest at 2,345,408 Km2 countries in Africa and lager than combined areas of Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Norway – or nearly three and a half times the size of Texas.

The country is largely covered by lush, tropical rainforest; the heart of the DRC is comparable to the Amazon (the only larger rainforest on Earth). The mighty Congo River forms the backbone of the country, carrying barges overflowing with Congolese (and the occasional adventurous Westerner) and merchants bringing their large pirogues laden with goods, fruits, and local bush meat out to sell to those on the barges.

The country has faced a tragic, tumultuous history since colonization. It was plundered by Belgium’s King Leopold II for, gold, rubber and palm oil, collected forcibly from the Congolese by extremely brutal means.

The country and its central government fell apart just weeks after independence in 1960. Future leaders spent far more time fighting rebels and trying to keep the country together. As such, they failed to build modern infrastructure, failed to improve education, failed to improve healthcare and failed to do anything else to improve the lives of the Congolese people.

Till now, known for the most gold and Diamonds mining richest country on world it still remains one of the least developed countries in Africa; its GDP per capita is the fifteenth lowest in the world.

Congo is not a Normal Tourist Destination!

Of all countries of Africa, Congo is the most adventurous country with the real typical African culture and dense rainforests with lots of Natural forests.

It is more visited by adventures than tourist who wants to spend their holidays or on Luxury safaris;

Just because no one goes there to rest and seat in a chair for good days of relax!!

Congo is a real good experience for people who are active and with all respect for nature and local culture – like to learn, observe and have no objection against social contact.

People who are not afraid to taste local fruit and food, not afraid to walk in the mud and accept to travel in a country without cold beer or Cola; if you really need *****lodges, whisky or rocks and your 20 channels television, Please go somewhere else!!

Obtain a visa entry to DR. Congo.

Congo normal visa still stands the expensive visa on the whole world this came about due to the rapid entrance of foreigners in Congo not only for Tourism and conservation purposes but also for exploitation of the country’s resources. So the President together with the Directorate of immigration decided to limit constant movements of foreigners but raising the costs of visa though it didn’t solve the problem as expected.

Types of Visas and fees;

Normal visa = $300: This is a type of visa which is paid for by a person who has directly appeared on the border without prior application.

Tourist Visa = $105: This type of Visa is obtained when one has prior applied for it and accomplish the necessary requirements.

To qualify for a tourist visa, you must first purchase one of the below products to allow you access a Tourist Visa into DR.Congo;

Mountain gorilla trek permit,

Nyiragongo Volcano trek permit,

Chimps in Tongo

Book and pay for accommodation at one of the Lodges.

Once you have a booking and have received confirmation of your payment, you will also receive an order number and the following will be the next step:

Tourist Visa in Review:

After confirming your package to Congo with us a visa form will be sent to you.

The form will be filled and sent back to us to process your visa entry to Congo

A copy of your passport will be required to accompany the visa form.

Single entry visa is valid for 14 days from day of entry.

The process of obtaining this Tourist visa takes between 5 -7 working days

Yellow Fever vaccination may be required for access into the country

The Directorate of Immigration (DGM) reserves the right to reject a visa application in case it doesn’t meet the necessary requirements.

Please cross into Goma at the “Grand Barrière” NOT at the “Petite Barrière”

You do not need an actual copy of your visa if you have your order confirmations in hand when you arrive at the border.